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<title>We never say 'I told you so' by Laura_Sinele</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26943289">We never say 'I told you so'</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laura_Sinele/pseuds/Laura_Sinele'>Laura_Sinele</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fictober 2020 [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Leverage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Banter, Bickering, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Crack, Gen, Grumpy Eliot Spencer, Gunshot Wounds, Hardison is a Little Shit, Parker is their moral compass, Protective Eliot Spencer, Slice of Life, Team as Family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:20:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>690</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26943289</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laura_Sinele/pseuds/Laura_Sinele</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hardison liked to think that, because he grew up in a foster home and was a teenage delinquent, common thugs were his people, but deep down he knew he was first and foremost a giant nerd. And the rest of the world seemed to realise at first sight. </p><p>Eliot is done with all that.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alec Hardison &amp; Eliot Spencer, Alec Hardison &amp; Parker, Alec Hardison &amp; Parker &amp; Eliot Spencer, Sophie Devereaux &amp; Nathan Ford &amp; Alec Hardison &amp; Parker &amp; Eliot Spencer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fictober 2020 [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951714</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fictober20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>We never say 'I told you so'</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for the Tumblr event Fictober, prompt 11: 'I told you so'</p><p>I spun it around the phrase "Nunca decimos 'te lo dije', porque eso es de gilipollas" ('We never say 'I told you so', that's what assholes do'). It's from a recited track in the album 'La puerta de la cânne', by Califato 3/4. This is very obscure and specific, but I thought I'd leave the info here in case someone interested in Andalusian electro-flamenco &amp; hip hop reads this fic :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Hardison and Eliot stormed in through the back door, yelling at each other. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘I had it under control, I had them, I could have gotten all the details, but you had to—’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘Yeah, I had to save your life, you’re welcome!’, interrupted Eliot.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘I had it under control!’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘No you didn’t, the only thing you had back there was a ticket to a quick tooth extraction! Those goons were about to kick your—’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hardison laughed it off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘Oh, man, you have no idea of what you’re talking about. Seriously, you shouldn’t have come up like that, it was fine, I didn’t need you’.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘Right, next time I’ll let them beat you into a pulp and then I’ll come over and use your last thread of life to make sure you hear me say I TOLD YOU SO!’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘Hey!’, called Parker from the couch, startling them both. ‘We don’t say ‘I told you so’! Nate says only assholes do that’, and she went back to her Cheerios bowl. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eliot and Hardison looked at each other, wordlessly deciding to drop it and go their separate ways. That was until Hardison was sure to be out of Eliot's attack range and claimed:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘I got the moral high-ground, I win!’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eliot grunted loudly and left.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>--</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hardison was lying in a work bench that had been hurriedly vacated, showering them all with his verbal diarrhoea. Meanwhile, Eliot and Nate tried to get him to stay still, and Sophie was fetching the medical equipment. He had taken a bullet in the shoulder but his main concern were the microcircuits and precision tools Nate had pushed off to the ground unceremoniously for Eliot to be able to drop him on the table.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘Hardison, for the love of God, shut up!’, commanded Sophie, scrambling to open a pack of surgical thread. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had been careless, overconfident. Kind of like he always did when he had to interact with the baddies. He liked to think that, because he grew up in a foster home and was a teenage delinquent, common thugs were his people, but deep down he knew he was first and foremost a giant nerd. And the rest of the world seemed to realise at first sight. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had infiltrated the bodyguards of the target for weeks, but on the day of the heist they had caught him talking to the team through the earpiece, and Eliot had had to jump off a two story balcony to save his sorry ass, risking blowing up the whole operation. Parker was still there, and it looked like she was doing okay, all things considered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now in their headquarters, Eliot had to knock him out in order to clean the wound and sew it. He was just coming back to his senses when a very angry Parker arrived, lips pursed and a murderous strut. Hardison was already donning his trademark toothy smile to greet her when she shoved on Nate’s arms the briefcase she had managed to steal, and pressed Hardison’s wound with her finger.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘Ow, girl! What was that for?’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘Because Eliot told you so! And do you listen? Never! I’m going to be hanging from the rafters if someone needs me’.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Making a poor job of containing his smile at Praker's theatrical exit and Hardison's dumbfounded expression, Nate opened the briefcase and went idly through its contents. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘You know’, he said. ‘I did say one time that only assholes say ‘I told you so’ but, Hardison? Eliot did tell you so’.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘Yes’, chirped in Sophie, exasperated. ‘I’m pretty sure we have all told you so at some point, you overdoer!’.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nate gave her a head tilt towards the door and they both walked out, leaving Hardison alone with Eliot.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘Alright, okay, come on, man. Say it’, prompted Hardison. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eliot remained silent, with a teasing smile. He pursed his lips a tiny bit and looked up, as if undecided. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘Come on, let’s get this over with, just say it. Say you told me so’, pushed Hardison. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a few more seconds of suspense and a very annoying smiley face, Eliot finally replied:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘Nah’, he said. ‘Only assholes do that’. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
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